Uber Is About to Face a Landmark Battle in Europe (fortune.com)

In a case which could affect other app-based startups, Uber will seek to convince Europe's top court next week that it is a digital service, not a transport company. The outcome could determine whether app-based startups should be exempt from strict laws meant for regular companies. From a report on Fortune:The European Commission is trying to boost e-commerce, a sector where the EU lags behind Asia and the United States, to drive economic growth and create jobs. The U.S. taxi app, which launched in Europe five years ago, has faced fierce opposition from regular taxi companies and some local authorities, who fear it creates unfair competition because it is not bound by strict local licensing and safety rules. Supporters however say rigid regulatory obligations protect incumbents and hinder the entry of digital startups which offer looser work arrangements to workers in the 28-country European Union looking for more flexibility, albeit without basic rights.

Comments

We'll all be "contractors" soon.

[Anonymous Coward]

Supporters however say rigid regulatory obligations protect incumbents and hinder the entry of digital startups which offer looser work arrangements to workers in the 28-country European Union looking for more flexibility, albeit without basic rights.

See, these folks are spinning it as an opportunity for folks - "be your own boss!", "Be an entrepreneur!", etc ....

But they still rule your work. You still take on the business risk but aren't compensated for it. That's the trend - to push market and other business risks onto the worker - as well as the tax liability and hassle - and not compensating the worker for it.

A 25% commission and booking fee on top of that is way too steep for what they (Uber) do. They have no risk and very little expense while the drivers deal with the headaches of owning the capital equipment and taxes and whatnot. It's great that by becoming an Uber driver, you can skate around taxi regulations, but never the less, it's a bad deal. Uber just supplies an app and a payment system (BFD), but the drivers are the ones who are supplying the real service and capital equipment. I

Re:We'll all be "contractors" soon.

[GuB-42]

But it is a "sharing economy".
Drivers share their income with Uber.

Um... so what?

[rsilvergun]

these laws and regulations exist for a reason, and it's not to put a stop to everybody's fun. It's because people were being abused.

If you let people ignore laws because you're changing nomenclature then there is no law. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck.

Duh

[Locke2005]

Just because you organize your taxi service over the internet doesn't mean your exempt for all other laws, regulations, or requirements for a taxi service. This applies to every other dot com whose business model is basically "Do a business that has been around for decades, but using the internet!" AirBNB? You need to follow the same rules as any other room rental agency. Amazon? People buying things over the internet still need to pay sales tax. Backpage.com? Soliciting prostitution is still soliciting prostitution.

Re:If this is the case, beward companies.

[tlhIngan]

Ebay will be called an auction place and have to abide by rules in every town.
Paypal will be called a bank and have to obey laws.
Every tech company figures they're semi avoiding laws at least cuz it is new. The motto in tech ask for forgiveness, not ask for permission. If you limit yourself, you might not ever have a good idea to make billions. I've had many ideas that turned into multimillion or multibillion dollar companies, but I didn't do them myself because I didn't have a crew to do them with. It doesn't bother me, but just reassuring that my ideas are good.

eBay is an auction site and the sellers and buyers do have to abide by local laws. Like in Germany, eBay has had to remove Nazi stuff listed for sale, because it is illegal to sell those in Germany. eBay has also had to remove listings because they've violated laws.

Paypal IS actually a bank in the EU.

Anyhow, if the EU wants more e-commerce, why not start with something straightforward like selling of merchandise? Or even working on copyright and IP laws which would allow the sale of music, tv shows and movies throughout the EU without being country specific? That would seem to be the low-hanging fruit blocking EU-wide e-commerce.

Going after someone like Uber is going to be hard. Because there are some laws you want them to follow (e.g., non-discrimination). And depending on the country, if a taxi driver doesn't want to carry a fare that's hired them, they're forced to call another taxi AND THEN wait with the fare until the replacement taxi arrives. (This is so the refusing taxi can't go and get someone more lucrative in the meantime, as well as if it's bad weather, the fare doesn't have to wait in the weather).

I'm not arguing that at all

[rsilvergun]

nice straw man, btw. What part of Uber is a ride share service? Uber is actively seeking drivers with the same techniques companies use to find employees. They're also treating those drivers exactly like employees. Crucially by controlling how much they charge and punishing them for refusing low paying rides. There are other ways though.

If they're going to treat people like employees when it's to their advantage they're also going to treat them like employees when it's to the drivers advantage. People literally died for those protections. In China and South America they're still dying. WTF is wrong with you that you'd turn a blind eye to that?